Mister Arlington

07

Mary and I made breakfast but this time she took Mister Arlington's dish upstairs. I noticed that it was only one plate, no additional things that would give away the presence of another woman or man accompanying him. Meaning, the woman or man who was here last night was gone. Well, that was my assumption.

Mary cleaned upstairs while I did my duties downstairs; I vacuumed, dusted, refilled the water in all the vases, straightend anything that seemed to be out of place and wiped down all the surfaces. These were my daily chores. After I watered the garden outside and placed birdseeds in the pigeon hole that hung on one of the young tree's I was told by Mary that the rest of the day I had off until before lunch, meaning I had an hour or so of free time.

I ran in the tall grass, just like I did yesterday, only stopping when my chest burned, from there I walked the rest of the way to the dead tree I had seen from afar. I touched the trunk, rubbing my thumb along the bark.

Why are you dead in a field full of life? I wondered to myself. With a sigh, I climbed up it thick long limbs, until I sat in a crook at the top of the tree, looking out at the vast array of country.

I wonder how much land Mister Arlington owned?

That thought was pushed away quickly as I heard and felt a deep rumble from the earth. My head snapped to the direction of the disturbance. Immediately, my mouth slightly dropped open in awe as I spotted a herd of wild horses sprinting past from a distance.

They left just as quickly as they had came, making me yearn to chase after them. But I knew, no matter how much I wanted to, I would never be able too.

I hurried back to the house with the news of what I had just witnessed, I wanted to tell Mary of the beautiful sight I had just seen. I was surprised when I returned, finding Mary and Mister Arlington enjoying the sun in the garden, sitting in a wooden bench chair.

With Mister Arlington by her side I no longer wanted to inform her of the spectacle, making my shoulders sag and my demeanour change completely. Regardless, I didn't forget to curtsy.

"You're back early, I thought you would be gone longer," Mary spoke.

I shook my head in response, my eyes darted to Mister Arlington who stared at the ground I stood on, looking down I realised he was staring at my bare feet.

My face flushed unintentionally.

"Do you like to run amongst the grass with bare feet like you're some cave woman? I thought at the auction they had introduced you to have manners of a proper lady, this clearly does not display that quality."

I curtsied deeply, not rising until he verbally allowed me to.

"There is no need for that, Gordon should be around anytime now, when he does come with your money be sure to buy you some shoes."

I nodded.

"Did you see the herd?" Mary cut in, changing the subject.

I nodded again, all excitement that was previously there, now gone.

"Beautiful aren't they, they've been around here ever since Tobias was a boy, in fact there's and old horse from that herd in the stables around the back of the house."

"Speaking of," Mister Arlington interrupted, "Ben needs some tending to, I suppose I'll assign the job to you now, Miss Whiting."

I nodded watching as he tried to stand, which Mary hastily helped with when his face pinched together slightly.

"Follow me."

I walked behind the two, noticing that Mister Arlington now applied more pressure onto his cane and as he walked he had a limp in his stride.

How strange.

Well it wasn't my business, after all I was only a maid here, nothing more.

We used the graveled driveway to reach the back of the house where there were two stone building, both had two large wooden doors as an entrance.

Mister Arlington lead us to the one further to the right, opening one door so we were able to enter the stables. Inside, there were six stalls which had hay in them but only one was occupied. In the back end, left corner, stood a large chestnut horse.

"His name is Benjamin, your job is to temd to him and keep him comfortable. It won't be long before he dies, it's only a matter of days now."

I admit, I was surprised at how straightforward and nonchalantly he had said that.

I watched as he grabbed an apple from a sack that was hanging up on the wall, he held it out and watched as Benjamin gently took the apple whole. As the horse ate, Mister Arlington rubbed the horses strong jaw, continuing to his neck.

"After he is gone I will have to catch another horse from the herd, which means I will have to rebuild the yards for when that time comes." He spoke more to himself than to Mary and I. "So, Miss Whiting, do you understand what I'm assigning you to do?" Mister Arlington asked, pulling away from the horse and turning to face me.

I nodded, although I wasn't sure exactly how to attend to a horse.

"Good." With that he walked past me, exiting the stables.

I looked at Mary who still stood beside me. She sighed, "he cares about this horse very much, although he might not show it. He and his father had caught Benjamin from the herd that you saw today when Tobias was a boy. It will cause a great impact on his life when he goes."

I looked at the horse who was waiting for his doomed outcome. Such a complacent animal.

"Take good care of him Angelica."

Benjamin reminded me of a puppy I was had, adorable and complacent. One day he had gone missing, I found later on that my father had used him as meat to feed his vicious hounds. I cried for a whole week after that.

I nodded in reply to Mary.

I would've done anything to make my puppies death easier, make him less scared. But I wasn't able to do that, so for Benjamin, I would.